Stay at Disney or combine a day or two at Universal?

have2getaway said:
Thank you! This is so helpful. I checked the rate for Royal Pacific for next January and it was only $284 a night, which seemed low to me. How do I tell if that includes the Express Pass? Also, is there more than one type of Express Pass or is it all the same and includes early entry? I recall reading a while back there was an Express Pass that included Potter and one that didn’t, but that was a while ago and so not sure if that’s changed now?
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All rates at RPR include EP (our rate in Nov was $255 a night so your in the right neighborhood). The EP you get from staying in a resort is the unlimited EP that can be used as many times as you want on an EP ride (which is nearly all of them). HP rides used to not be included but now they are. EE is included at all Universal resorts even those that don’t have EP.
 
snoopboop said:
It’s her IP, but I guess you know better. OK.
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Not the stories = someone else posted that she wanted it to be a certain way, so picked Universal. Well, the way she wanted it was not that great for a busy theme park - too tight, stuck in between some major roads. I'm thinking she didn't understand how a theme park works, that's all. And how Disney would have given twice the space to WWoHP than Universal possibly can, so we wouldn't be looking at trash bins (or smelling them) when we went through a queue, etc.

Luckybee said:
I'm going to operate on the premise that you're kidding/sarcasm. You have to be....you really really have to be.

I haven't seen Pandora yet so with that exception in mind can you tell me anything at Disney that has been done as well as WWOHP. We've been going to D for a very long time. We still love Disney...but the first time we saw WWOHp we were outright blown away. The theming , right down to Moaning Myrtle in the bathroom is mind blowing.
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The first time we went we couldn't even hear Moaning Myrtle because they had the hand dryers. The buildings are well done, (except the blank sides of Hogwarts) but too crowded as the shops were built too small, aisles too narrow. If JKR wanted it that way - small, intimate shops - then she doesn't understand theme parks. We buy very little there because we can't even get to a cashier half the time. I just end up disgusted and drop my arm load of stuff on the nearest display and walk out. They did a bit better at Diagon Alley, except for the shops. It makes me sad, because the HP merchandise is really cool. I just don't have the patience to wait twice as long, and squeeze through people, as I would at WDW to buy something.

macraven said:
I can’t figure out which section that is

Can you share any pictures with us that you took?
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I don't take photos of trash bins on vacation, but you can see the areas I'm talking about on Google maps.
 
DisneyOma said:
Not the stories = someone else posted that she wanted it to be a certain way, so picked Universal. Well, the way she wanted it was not that great for a busy theme park - too tight, stuck in between some major roads. I'm thinking she didn't understand how a theme park works, that's all. And how Disney would have given twice the space to WWoHP than Universal possibly can, so we wouldn't be looking at trash bins (or smelling them) when we went through a queue, etc.



The first time we went we couldn't even hear Moaning Myrtle because they had the hand dryers. The buildings are well done, (except the blank sides of Hogwarts) but too crowded as the shops were built too small, aisles too narrow. If JKR wanted it that way - small, intimate shops - then she doesn't understand theme parks. We buy very little there because we can't even get to a cashier half the time. I just end up disgusted and drop my arm load of stuff on the nearest display and walk out. They did a bit better at Diagon Alley, except for the shops. It makes me sad, because the HP merchandise is really cool. I just don't have the patience to wait twice as long, and squeeze through people, as I would at WDW to buy something.
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Now, I’ve never been to Universal since HP, but I have been to both Universal & Disney many times, and I understand what you’re saying. We watched several YouTube videos of the HP areas and, they are not like anything I’ve ever seen in a theme park before. They are amazing and we are even more excited to see it, but at the same time, I can definitely see how in a busy day the layout wouldn’t be the best for crowds.
 
PrincessWithABlaster said:
All rates at RPR include EP (our rate in Nov was $255 a night so your in the right neighborhood). The EP you get from staying in a resort is the unlimited EP that can be used as many times as you want on an EP ride (which is nearly all of them). HP rides used to not be included but now they are. EE is included at all Universal resorts even those that don’t have EP.
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Perfect! Thank you! As much as we wanted to try Portofino Bay, it makes more sense for us to do Universal this way if we try to do a day while at Disney. If we all love it, we can plan for a return trip with more days there and a stay at PBR.
 


Yes just like princess posted
All on your room reservation will have ep

If rates drop at pbh, call and change hotels
Book that hotel then cancel rpr with the help of the agent
 
have2getaway said:
Perfect! Thank you! As much as we wanted to try Portofino Bay, it makes more sense for us to do Universal this way if we try to do a day while at Disney. If we all love it, we can plan for a return trip with more days there and a stay at PBR.
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You made a good choice that you will be happy with.:thumbsup2
 
PrincessWithABlaster said:
Did you skip the Harry Potter areas? pixiedust:

I can’t think of anything more magical than kids running around in wizard robes performing spells and drinking butter beer as if they had stepped into a movie. But I’m a Potter fan.

If Uni was trying to be a thrill park they are an utter fail at it. I can go to Six Flags and ride 10 or more large coasters in one park. I would classify Uni as a theme park that is trying to keep the teenage boy demographic. I think they are very successful with that type of theming. YMMV.
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No. I loved Harry Potter. I agree that part is magical.
 


We're in the middle of a "split stay" vacation, the second one we've done in two years. If you're going to shell out the money to do Universal, I would highly recommend staying in one of the resort hotels, preferably the Hard Rock. You get free Unlimited Express passes and the Hard Rock is literally a five minute walk to the front of Universal Studios. At the end of a long day, it's so nice to just walk back to the hotel and crash. Or if you want, the Universal City Walk is right there across the bridge, you can get a bite to eat after the park.

We really like the contrast between the Universal and Disney experiences. Very different, but each has its own pluses and minuses. If you have never done WWoHP and you have ANY affinity for the Harry Potter world, I would say Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade are must-sees.
 
fiasco32 said:
We're in the middle of a "split stay" vacation, the second one we've done in two years. If you're going to shell out the money to do Universal, I would highly recommend staying in one of the resort hotels, preferably the Hard Rock. You get free Unlimited Express passes and the Hard Rock is literally a five minute walk to the front of Universal Studios. At the end of a long day, it's so nice to just walk back to the hotel and crash. Or if you want, the Universal City Walk is right there across the bridge, you can get a bite to eat after the park.

We really like the contrast between the Universal and Disney experiences. Very different, but each has its own pluses and minuses. If you have never done WWoHP and you have ANY affinity for the Harry Potter world, I would say Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade are must-sees.
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Our boys are becoming interested in Harry Potter. They have watched all of the movies, and are excited to see WWOHP. We had never considered Hard Rock, only Portafino and Royal Pacific, but we recently looked into it and noticed that it is super close to the parks, and thought it would be pretty neat to stay there. We are committed to stay on site at least one night and try 2 days, but still on the fence which resort.
 
have2getaway said:
Our boys are becoming interested in Harry Potter. They have watched all of the movies, and are excited to see WWOHP. We had never considered Hard Rock, only Portafino and Royal Pacific, but we recently looked into it and noticed that it is super close to the parks, and thought it would be pretty neat to stay there. We are committed to stay on site at least one night and try 2 days, but still on the fence which resort.
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We stayed at Portafino last year. Certainly a nice resort, but it's further away which means either a longer walk (at least twice as long, maybe three times as long at Hard Rock) or you have to wait for a boat at the end of the night, which can take a while.

The only real difference I noticed between the two room-wise was the Hard Rock bathroom was definitely a bit smaller. But the lobby of the Hard Rock was really cool and the rock-and-roll theme throughout the building was really cool. Found myself humming tunes all the while.

Between those differences and the fact that Hard Rock is cheaper, we'll definitely be choosing Hard Rock if/when we go back.
 
fiasco32 said:
We stayed at Portafino last year. Certainly a nice resort, but it's further away which means either a longer walk (at least twice as long, maybe three times as long at Hard Rock) or you have to wait for a boat at the end of the night, which can take a while.

The only real difference I noticed between the two room-wise was the Hard Rock bathroom was definitely a bit smaller. But the lobby of the Hard Rock was really cool and the rock-and-roll theme throughout the building was really cool. Found myself humming tunes all the while.

Between those differences and the fact that Hard Rock is cheaper, we'll definitely be choosing Hard Rock if/when we go back.
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How far away is Royal Pacific? We are considering that resort simply because it seems more “young” kid friendly and most similar to the Polynesian.
 
have2getaway said:
How far away is Royal Pacific? We are considering that resort simply because it seems more “young” kid friendly and most similar to the Polynesian.
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It's still pretty walkable (I think around a third of a mile?), but much closer to Islands of Adventure than Universal. So, if you're going to take advantage of extra morning hours at IOA, Royal Pacific might actually be a good option. We always start and end at Diagon Alley, so Hard Rock makes more sense for us.
 
I'm going to agree with DisneyOma about the shops in HP Land being small in addition to the que in the Castle. My wife has to be in a wheelchair now in theme parks due to some leg nerve issues right now. Que in the Castle particularly is very dark, narrow and somewhat "windie", not at all conducive to pushing a wheelchair thru. Shops, just forget the chair. If she wants to go in she just had to suck-it-up and walk in.

Having said all that, it was our first time at US. Did Sat thru Monday after Thanksgiving. Got annual passes so will be going back a few times in March, June, July and in the Fall of this year. While we generally liked the parks (HP was awesome) we were a bit put off by the fact that so many of the rides were motion simulator rides (wife and several others in our family couldn't ride about 2/3's of them) and seemed to cater to the 10 to 25 crowd. Was really surprised that HP rides were so intense. Since they do cater to the younger crowd, you would have thought they would have geared the rides to a wider age range.

Just my $.02
 
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Our family has been to WDW several times and we enjoy staying onsite; I am contemplating a visit to US this trip also. Our kids (3 teenage boys) are not interested in Happy Potter - would it be doable to take uber from WDW for one day and see / do the "non HP" parts of the park in one day? I was thinking we should probably purchase the FP add on if we choose to do this (although that is a hefty bill to swallow for a family of 5 for one day). Thanks for your opinion!
 
jen3b said:
Our family has been to WDW several times and we enjoy staying onsite; I am contemplating a visit to US this trip also. Our kids (3 teenage boys) are not interested in Happy Potter - would it be doable to take uber from WDW for one day and see / do the "non HP" parts of the park in one day? I was thinking we should probably purchase the FP add on if we choose to do this (although that is a hefty bill to swallow for a family of 5 for one day). Thanks for your opinion!
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Sure, you can do a lot in one day, but if you've done Disney several times, why not do a US trip? If you enjoy staying onsite at Disney, you'll really enjoy the Universal resorts. We are also a family of 5 and our kids prefer Cabana Bay to any Disney resort. Also, many teen boys prefer the Universal parks to Disney. In any case, you get the most for your money when you don't mix trips because of how costly the tickets are for the first day. I feel its much better to take your time and enjoy theme parks rather than rushing through them.
 
11290 said:
I'm going to agree with DisneyOma about the shops in HP Land being small in addition to the que in the Castle. My wife has to be in a wheelchair now in theme parks due to some leg nerve issues right now. Que in the Castle particularly is very dark, narrow and somewhat "windie", not at all conducive to pushing a wheelchair thru. Shops, just forget the chair. If she wants to go in she just had to suck-it-up and walk in.

Having said all that, it was our first time at US. Did Sat thru Monday after Thanksgiving. Got annual passes so will be going back a few times in March, June, July and in the Fall of this year. While we generally liked the parks (HP was awesome) we were a bit put off by the fact that so many of the rides were motion simulator rides (wife and several others in our family couldn't ride about 2/3's of them) and seemed to cater to the 10 to 25 crowd. Was really surprised that HP rides were so intense. Since they do cater to the younger crowd, you would have thought they would have geared the rides to a wider age range.

Just my $.02
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Interesting perspective and quite different from ours. Dh and I are both in the 50+ crowd (I'll never say how much 50+ :) ) and I recently described Uni to a colleague who was taking his family (including two under 10's) to Orlando as better for adults while Disney is better for kids. He and his wife were planning another trip alone in Sept for F&W and I had suggested they wait until then to try Universal because of my opinion of it being more adult oriented. We love both places but...and it's a biggie for us...dh enjoys far more of the rides at Uni and generally he is not a ride lover. We also find the parks less chaotic, and less kid intense. It's been my opinion that save and except the young kids Uni appeals to a wider audience than Disney. Guess this is why there are so many varieties of ice cream !
 
jen3b said:
Our family has been to WDW several times and we enjoy staying onsite; I am contemplating a visit to US this trip also. Our kids (3 teenage boys) are not interested in Happy Potter - would it be doable to take uber from WDW for one day and see / do the "non HP" parts of the park in one day? I was thinking we should probably purchase the FP add on if we choose to do this (although that is a hefty bill to swallow for a family of 5 for one day). Thanks for your opinion!
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That’s exactly why we reserved the least expensive deluxe room, which was $284 a night, and gave us early entry and FP for 2 days while at Universal. It was less expensive for us to just pay for a room than to upgrade to FP, so we decided to actually use the room. We are ending up paying for a room at Disney while paying for a room at Universal. It seems silly, but we really like the convenience of Magical Express both ways, and aren’t ready to do more than a couple days at Universal.

We recently started considering a split stay at Disney, starting at a value resort, especially if we won’t be staying there one night, but I think that could end up being even more confusing and stressful. We’d use ME from airport to Disney, check into our value Disney resort, leave for Universal, and return to Disney the next day, check out of value resort and check into the Polynesian until we fly out. Has anyone ever done this? Was it too much work?
 
I'm only halfway through this thread, but I wanted to comment on the "magic" of US.

First, we love both Disney and US, and we do prefer to keep them separate. In the past 2 years, we hit US 5 times, usually for 3 days, and 90% spent in HP. We can never get enough!

But our first trip to US was an experiment. We stayed onsite, Express Passes, Park-to-Park tickets, and had a BLAST! But... not what I would call magical (which is ironic, since we barely left HP that trip!).

It was the SECOND trip when we started to feel the pull, the delight, the enchantment. The second trip, the music was already in our heads. The familiar paths and shortcuts made us feel at home, but there was still so much more to discover! We had found some favorite restaurants and were ready to try some new ones. Does any of this sound familiar? As in, didn't this happen for you on a Disney trip? Or every Disney trip?

We leave for Disney soon, and I'm looking forward to it. But I'm also having a mental pep talk with myself, trying to cheer myself up that we won't see any fire-breathing dragons overhead, and I can't start my day with a Fishy Green Ale, and there will be no magical store fronts.

And I'll miss the water taxis. I'll REALLY miss the water taxis!!

There is most certainly magic at US. But you may have to budget for 2 visits to find it. Fortunately, annual passes are nearly free!
 
jpkkld said:
I'm only halfway through this thread, but I wanted to comment on the "magic" of US.

First, we love both Disney and US, and we do prefer to keep them separate. In the past 2 years, we hit US 5 times, usually for 3 days, and 90% spent in HP. We can never get enough!

But our first trip to US was an experiment. We stayed onsite, Express Passes, Park-to-Park tickets, and had a BLAST! But... not what I would call magical (which is ironic, since we barely left HP that trip!).

It was the SECOND trip when we started to feel the pull, the delight, the enchantment. The second trip, the music was already in our heads. The familiar paths and shortcuts made us feel at home, but there was still so much more to discover! We had found some favorite restaurants and were ready to try some new ones. Does any of this sound familiar? As in, didn't this happen for you on a Disney trip? Or every Disney trip?

We leave for Disney soon, and I'm looking forward to it. But I'm also having a mental pep talk with myself, trying to cheer myself up that we won't see any fire-breathing dragons overhead, and I can't start my day with a Fishy Green Ale, and there will be no magical store fronts.

And I'll miss the water taxis. I'll REALLY miss the water taxis!!

There is most certainly magic at US. But you may have to budget for 2 visits to find it. Fortunately, annual passes are nearly free!
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Just curious, how many nights did you stay your first trip and which resort? Wondering if the resort choice matters at all? Also, was it a combined trip with Disney?
 
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